| Despite the actiological role of hypercholesterolaemia in coronary heart disease (CHD), there have been few studies examining its importance in Chinese. These studies examined the clinical features and risk of CHD in familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), the prevalence of lipid disorders and other cardiovascular risk factors in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the effects of lipid-lowering drug treatment in Hong Kong Chinese.; Screening probands with possible FH and relatives from 87 families identified 252 subjects with clinical heterozygous FH. Their serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration (mean ± SD) was 7.2 ± 1.5 mmol/L, which was twice that of unaffected siblings or in the general population. The LDL-C level and prevalence of corneal arcus and xanthomata were similar to those in Caucasians, but the prevalence of CHD (10% in patients aged >30 years) was lower, possibly because of higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Nevertheless, CHD was still more common than in the general population.; In 346 patients with AMI hospitalised in the Prince of Wales Hospital during 1995–96, the baseline LDL-C concentration was 3.9 ± 1.3 mmol/L. The most frequent lipid abnormality was low HDL-C level, which was found in 38% males and 48% females. Cigarette smoking, hypertension, diabetes and co-existence of multiple risk factors were much more frequent than in the general population.; Studies were performed in patients with severe hyperlipidaemia to assess the effects of three statins. Fluvastatin 20 and 40 mg/day produced a maximum mean LDL-C reduction of 26% and the combination with gemfibrozil further reduced triglycerides and increased HDLC without obvious adverse drug interaction. Atorvastatin 10–80 mg/day produced dose-dependent LDL-C reductions by up to 54% and reduced triglycerides by up to 48% in those patients with elevated baseline triglycerides. Simvastatin 40 and 80 mg/day reduced LDL-C by 43% and 52%, respectively and significantly increased HDL-C. Overall high doses of these statins were well tolerated over periods of 12–20 weeks and only two patients were withdrawn due to muscle/liver enzyme elevations, one on atorvastatin and one on simvastatin. The responses in LDL-C with the different doses of these statins were similar to those described in Caucasians. |
